In a major victory for humanity, a man has managed to beat a machine at the ancient game of Go. On March 9th, Lee Sedol – a world-renowned Go master – achieved a historic victory that many experts thought impossible. After five intense matches, the 33-year-old Korean player defeated Google’s AI program AlphaGo in a stunning display of human intelligence.
Go – a game of strategy says to be more than 2,500 years old – is arguably the most complex game ever created. Expert players must not only be able to anticipate their opponents move but also the alternative lines of play. Many experts believed the game would not be conquered by computer algorithms until 2026 at the earliest, but AlphaGo proved them wrong. Backed by Google, it went head-to-head against Lee Sedol in the 2016 Google DeepMind Challenge Match.
Initially it seemed like a one-sided affair. Lee lost the first three games – a particularly surprising setback considering he had won the first game against other top Go players. However, during the fourth game, Lee staged an incredible comeback. He used an ingenious move that caught AlphaGo completely off guard – a move that was praised in Go circles as being extremely creative and outside the box. This came to be known as the “God’s move”.
The fifth game was the climax of the match. It was the longest game of the series and lasted over three and a half hours with both players alternating between aggressive and defensive play styles. In the end, Lee emerged victorious.
The defeat of AlphaGo is being hailed as an important milestone in the development of artificial intelligence. With its victory over Lee Sedol, AlphaGo has demonstrated that computers are more than capable of mastering one of the most complex games ever created. That said, the match also serves as a huge reminder of the power of human intelligence. In the face of impressive technological advances, human ingenuity and creativity can still triumph.
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